ComicsMarvel Comicsthe avengersThe Ultimates #1 review: Earth’s mightiest heroes must assemble once more in Marvel’s new flagship super-team bookWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
ComicsMarvel Comicsthe avengersThe Ultimates #1 review: Earth’s mightiest heroes must assemble once more in Marvel’s new flagship super-team bookWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Marvel Comics)
The Maker has recreated the Ultimate Universe (now numbered Earth-6160), but transformed Earth into a world without superheroes. Since then a young Tony Stark and a number of other desperate survivors have started the fight back, but the Maker’s Council has convinced the world that Stark and Co. are actually dangerous terrorists.
That’s the basic setup for The Ultimates - a new ongoing series from writer Deniz Camp and artist Juan Frigeri. WhileSpider-Man,Black Pantherand theX-Menare off adventuring in their own series, The Ultimates is the line’s flagship team book. We’ve read the first issue and while we can’t get into any spoilers just yet, we can say that this is an effective and suitably epic start to the new series.
(Image credit: Marvel Comics)
Roughly split into two halves, the first part of the issue does an effective job of establishing just how desperate the situation is: Iron Lad and Doom are barely getting on; both Captain America and Thor are temporarily out of action; the team are fugitives; and their attempts to kickstart a resistance against the Maker are failing - with disastrous consequences. Even worse, Tony has calculated how long they have to save the world and the answer is bleak: just 18 months. The countdown starts now.
In the second half of the issue the gang come under attack from Captain Britain - now one of the Maker’s minions. It’s here that the series' other leads - Hank and Janet Pym - step forward, and give the issue some heart. There’s a real warmth and vulnerability to Camp and Frigeri’s portrayal of the couple. They’re care-worn, down on their luck, but still trying to do the right thing in a world that has made being a good person that much harder.
If I have one criticism, it’s that Doom feels oddly sidelined. This take on the character - a corrupted Reed Richards - is fascinating, but he’s given little to do here. Then again, this is only the first issue and that’s sure to change in the coming months. For the most part The Ultimates #1 is an exciting, fun, and suitably widescreen start to a series that has immediately become one of Marvel’s monthly must-reads.
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
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4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
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